Revision as of 14:31, 10 October 2016

Despite the prevalence of endometriosis—1 in 10 women have the disease—it is a still widely unknown and misunderstood. We presented our work to a variety of audiences different to teach them about both endometriosis and general synthetic biology.

Building with Biology

** Julia has written this up

Online Articles about Synthetic Biology and Endometriosis

One of our team members writes for the online publication, The Odyssey. Over the summer, she published three articles related to our iGEM project: an overview about iGEM and endometriosis, a summary of the New England iGEM Meetup (NEGEM), and a history of endometriosis. ** Can we link the articles here?

Industry Visits

We presented our work at LabCentral and Monsanto and learned about synthetic biology in industry.

LabCentral

LabCentral is a facility with shared laboratory and office space for up to 25 biotech startups in Kendall Square. Its mission is to “help create the next generation of powerhouse biotech companies” through fostering a “collaborative atmosphere” and providing “best-in-class infrastructure.” Along with the BU iGEM teams, our team was invited to present our initial project ideas to LabCentral team members. They gave us advice on our project and human practices. Additionally, we toured the labs and office spaces.

Monsanto

Monsanto is a large sustainable agriculture company. Biotechnology is a key area for Monsanto, with work like adding new beneficial traits into plant DNA. Over the summer, they invited us to their Cambridge office for lunch to get a tour of their facilities and to learn about industry biology. We walked them through our project design during a “chalk talk.” In addition to receiving feedback on our iGEM project, our team members gained valuable insight about future careers in biology.